Spring Fever

We have all been hit pretty hard with spring fever this year. Claire and Khloe have been dying to get outside and crawl/run around. They have been watching the snow come and go for months now and have hopefully seen the last of it melt away. We are so excited for it to get warm this weekend and now that my allergy symptoms have subsided, I am ready to get out there with them. Walks around the neighborhood, afternoons throwing Khloe's ball, reading to Claire on the grass, the joys of spring are endless. Bring on the warm weather! 

New Positions

It wasn't until recently that Claire started getting mobile and realized bedtime is a lot more fun when you move around and play with your stuffed animals prior to falling asleep. These past few weeks, I've gone into her bedroom at random times when she is sleeping to take pictures of how she is positioned. I often wonder, "how did she end up there?" This is a picture of how I put Claire in her crib (notice where her bear and giraffe are placed in the far corner of the crib): 

These are some of the positions I've caught her in lately:

This one took place a few days ago. Erik and I didn't even know she could get from laying down to sitting up without any help. I guess she really wanted to cuddle with her bear.

It is so much fun seeing all of the new positions Claire ends up in when she sleeps.

Birthday Celebrations

Erik's 31st birthday was two weeks ago and there was no shortage of celebration. In fact, from beginning to end it lasted a total of four days! I wish my birthdays were like that (hint, hint). It all began on Thursday (March 10th, the day before his birthday) when I took his place at the office and sent him home early so he could be with his little Claire Bear and to enjoy the afternoon off. He works so hard for our family and sometimes just the little things like leaving work a few hours early are the most enjoyable.

The morning of his birthday we went to breakfast with my parents at Finn's Cafe. We had never been there before and it was absolutely delicious! That night we got a babysitter and went to one of Erik's favorite restaurants for dinner, Iggy's. Once we got home I gave Erik his birthday present, which was an executive bungee chair for the office at ISA. It was kind of a strange gift, but he told me he wanted it so I went with it.

Saturday I surprised him with a paintball party with some of his closest friends. Despite my being nervous, I sucked it up and played with the boys. It was a lot of fun! Erik had a blast shooting all of his friends and by the time it was over, he had a handful of war wounds to show for it.

The celebrations finally came to an end on Sunday when his Mom cooked one of his favorite dinners (chicken asparagus lasagna) and I surprised him (yet again) with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (another one of his faves) with all of our close family members joining in on the fun.

Whew! I know Erik enjoyed all of the celebrations and can't wait for his birthday to come around next year. :) J/K Thanks to all of our family and friends who celebrated with us. We both appreciate it!

Yum! Yum!

Last week Claire had her first experience with "real" food; i.e. food that is not out of a baby jar or filled with air (flavored air puffs are her favorite). I wasn't sure what she could eat yet so I searched on the Internet and found out she could eat raisins and cheese. I could tell she was a little confused at first. Claire would pick a piece off of her tray and inspect it before eating. It was so cute! Half of the food landed in her lap or on the floor, but the few pieces that actually made it in her mouth were delicious! Claire loved the raisins and cheese and they have become daily snacks in our house. What snack foods do your kids like?

One minor thing that I am not happy about? Yucky, sticky, grimy fingers. I can't stand them and I had no idea that I was going to have to deal with that at such a young age. I guess I should get over it fast 'cause when she starts feeding herself it's only going to get worse. Wish me luck! :)

Claire Bear - 8 Months

I seriously wish time would slow down. Claire is growing so fast I can't believe it. She's starting to exude a little personality and it is so much fun to watch. However, along with all of the new and exciting moments she has experienced recently, Claire has also introduced us to the difficulties of being out and about with an 8 month old. It seems like the parenting aspect of raising a child has finally begun. Lately she has been:

• Very vocal - her favorite sounds are "pf", "ba", "da", "ga" and a couple of times it seriously sounded like she said "ta ya". :)
• Becoming anxious when separated from Mommy
• Rolling around like crazy - we just had to buy a gate so she wouldn't roll down the stairs
• Getting frustrated if she's playing with Khloe's toy and Khloe takes it from her
• Loving the sound door stops make when you pull at them
• Sleeping on her tummy - she moves all around her crib and usually ends up asleep on her stomach
• Making a really annoying whiny noise when she's had enough - sometimes the countdown to bedtime starts at 10am
• Learning cause and effect - if I hit 'this' with 'this' it makes a fun noise
• Pointing to pictures in her books
• Reaching as far as her arms will allow - crawling doesn't seem to interest her
• Growing steadily - our scale says she weighs 17.5 lbs
• Limiting dinner time when we are out at restaurants - she can only eat so many air puff treats before getting fussy
• Smiling when we sign "all done"
• Getting over her 2nd cold
• Using her first finger and thumb to grab pieces of food

Despite our new challenges, Claire is such a well behaved child. She is constantly smiling from ear to ear proudly showing off her two bottom teeth. We couldn't love her more! Here is her new "Claire Bear" picture:

8 months

6 Months

4 Months

2 Months

No Wives Allowed

Shooting, Bull's Eye, Ammunition, Snow, Boys Only, WWII Guns, and Explosions

=

An Ego-Boosting Afternoon

Sounds like the perfect boys day out to me!